Financing & Our Team
Financing and Use of Funds
The FHC is seeking funding through State and Federal agencies, as well as private enterprises that would benefit economically from the programs operated by FHC.
Federal grants
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States. Nonprofits are ideal recipients of grants.
Purpose: Since the point of a grant award is impact rather than money, the real point of a grant proposal is to rally the necessary resources to help the nonprofit fulfill its purpose. A grant is a tool nonprofits use to address important issues within their communities.
Industrial Revenue Bonds
An industrial revenue bond (IRB), also formerly known as an Industrial Development Bond (IDB), is a unique type of revenue bond organized by a state or local government. The bond issue is sponsored by a government entity but the proceeds are directed to a private, for-profit business.
History: IRBs came into wide use in the period after World War II, when Southern states employed them to lure investment by Northern manufacturing companies. By the 1960s, private-activity bonds had become so common that the federal government grew concerned about the loss of revenues from tax-exempt interest. Starting in the late 1960s, Congress began imposing restrictions on the uses of bond proceeds as well as limits on the allowable volume of bonds that could be issued.
Purpose: One of the ways in which state and local governments can subsidize private business is by providing low-cost financing via the issuance of bonds.
Nonprofit as ideal recipients
The Industrial Revenue Bond program (IRB) provides access to tax-exempt financing to help businesses and non-profit organizations renovate and build new construction, make tenant improvements, and purchase capital by securing interest rates up 4% lower than a traditional commercial loan.
Upon securing funding FHC will use the monies for two primary purposes:
A. 30% to fund a Florida State University Study on the environmental and economic impact of the FHC Industrial Hemp program.
FHC seeks to develop relationships with State universities by creating projects around hemp that call for research and development into the uses and benefits of the plant. Under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, certain universities will head the research into hemp growing in Florida.
5B-57.013 Industrial Hemp Planting Permits.
1. Pursuant to section 1004.4473, F.S., and in accordance with 7 U.S.C. Section 5940, the Department shall authorize and oversee the development of Industrial Hemp Pilot Projects (Pilot Project) for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and any other land grant university in the state that has a college of agriculture. Section 1004.4473(2)(a), F.S., provides that the purpose of the Pilot Project is to cultivate, process, test, research, create, and market safe and effective commercial agricultural applications for Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa), which is a potentially invasive plant species and is a threat to the plant life of this state if not properly controlled. The definitions provided in section 1004.4473, F.S., shall apply to this rule.
(https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=5B-57.013)
The FHC will direct 30% of all initial funding derived from State and Federal grants to a qualified Florida university to study the most effective growing techniques and the environmental and economic benefits of the FHC program. Creating new and useful data that can then be shared with the public domain is often challenging. As a nonprofit organization created for public benefit, the FHC would fund the development of Intellectual Property with the University for the specific purpose of sharing it with the public.
B) 70% FHC development & operations
Alongside funding university research, monies provided to the FHC will be used to develop the overall operations of the program. This will include central offices, liaisons with the State, aligning with major agricultural growers to utilize their adjacent unplanted lands to begin hemp cultivation to sequester herbicide and pesticide runoff, working with the State to identify target regions to implement phytoremediation, seeking private enterprises that want to partner in projects, aligning with the Veterans Administration to employ veterans, development of processing and extraction, and final end product production and sales distribution.
Development Steps
1. Financing
2. Joint field trial with State University to study impact and efficacy of non-propagating seeds
3. Land use agreements with the State and large commercial agricultural growers to remediate soils, sequester runoff, and increase revenue
4. Construction of a pilot processing facility for oil extraction, fibers, and food products.
5. Agreements with State Municipalities for purchase of biofuel, biocrete, and other materials.
6. Expansion to full scale processing and production facilities under private enterprise partnership agreements.
Our Team and resources
EarthCorp Foundation. A Florida nonprofit founded in 2009 and US 501(c)(3) environmental preservation and regeneration foundation and NGO in non US countries. EarthCorp works with agronomic research universities, land grant agencies, and local agricultural producers to create socially and economically profitable organic and biodynamic agricultural projects to regenerate our planet. EarthCorp founded the FHC and provides the conceptual and tangible resources for its initial development. Learn more here
Binomic Solutions. Bionomic Solutions specializes in Non-Synthetic fertilization and remediation products for soil and water remediation, enhanced plant growth, and regeneration of critical carbon and oxygen life cycles. Their unique active carbon remediation complex (ACRC) delivers superior plant growth and affords a far better alternative to the petroleum based synthetic fertilizers that have been a misplaced industry standard. Bionomic Solutions believes quality of life is in direct correlation to educating, communicating and facilitating long term land fertility and water quality remedies.
ACRC products are simply in a category unto itself. Proprietary formulations of plant derived acids consist only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and pH buffering solutions that top the industry. These complexes can be used in irrigation water or spray type applications to build soil tilth, increase water filtration and are highly effective in water and soil remediation. When treated regularly ACRC eliminates mineral and heavy metal buildup in soils. It also gives a growth response equal or superior to chemical fertilizers.
Additionally, all Bionomic Solutions ACRC products are safe for material handlers and surrounding environments due to the stabilization of the formulations. All products our actually healthy for humans, helpful to the environment, promote elevated crop yields and are affordable to use in large scale broad acre applications. All products are USDA bioprefered (USDA certified biobased products) Learn more here.
Innocent Chocolate production facility. A full commercial chocolate production facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida supporting EarthCorp for the manufacturing of a full line of hemp based products ( CBD oil, hemp seed, hemp protein, hemp oil). All products are organic, vegan, sugar free, and will be created with hemp from the program. The sales revenue will be used to advance the FHC projects. See more here.
Commercial processing equipment for hemp extracts. EarthCorp has provided two key systems for the pilot program. 1) a commercial scale industrial centrifuge (Evodos Type 25) for the extraction of hemp oil from hemp seeds and the resulting hemp protein remaining after the oil is removed. This unit is capable of producing substantial volumes of oil for the initial proof of concept. 2) An industrial scale (200 liter) complete distillation apparatus that will be used for the distillation of oils (ie. CBD, CBN, CBG, etc) from hemp for final separation into valuable commodities sold to Florida based manufacturers of retail products.
Florida Resident land owners and commercial agricultural growers. FHC has aligned with several private landowners in Florida who have offered support for the project pilot programs by providing land for growing in different regions of the State. Currently approximately 250 acres in three locations is available for smaller scale food crops and oils. For soil and water remediation is a potential 2500 acres of commercial agricultural land in one location and 275 is a second. FHC anticipates many more residents seeking to collaborate.
